Basic selling strategy, Part I

When you try to sell a prospect on something you are typically following one of two sales strategies:

You’re trying to save them money, or

You’re trying to make them more money.

An example of the first instance is a new lightweight material for the aerospace market. Everyone knows that saving a pound of weight equals some magic dollar value in life cycle costs for the aircraft. If your prospect would spend $x today, you’ll save them $3x over the 15 year life of their aircraft. Sounds great right?

The problem with that approach in today’s economy is the initial $x cost you are proposing is no doubt more than what they are currently paying. And at this point in time cash is king, queen and jester.

My point is that the sales strategy of trying to get someone to pay more for something right now in order to save them money in the future is a fool’s game when cash is tight, as it is for most companies right now.

That leaves two sales strategies in your sales tool box to keep your sales funnel full – (1) save them money instantly, or (2) make them more money right now – more on these to follow.